This paper offers an evaluation of different methods for synthesizing benzyl cellulose and of how they affect characteristics such as solubility, degree of substitution, thermal stability and molecular weight of the products. Benzyl celluloses with degrees of substitution between 0.1 and 2.5 were synthesised from microcrystalline cellulose in (1) aqueous NaOH/Urea and (2) dimethyl sulfoxide/tert-butyl ammonium fluoride (DMSO/TBAF) systems in order to evaluate the different properties of the benzyl celluloses of low degree of substitution. In contrast to previous findings in the literature, both systems yielded soluble benzyl celluloses at degrees of substitution <0.5. Also in contrast to the literature, the low degree of substitution benzyl celluloses from both systems showed similar thermal properties. The filtration of the benzyl celluloses in DMSO/TBAF solutions before precipitation gave significantly higher solubility of the products and increased their thermal stability. The molecular weights of the benzyl celluloses of low degree of substitution (0.4 < DS < 1.25) were similar between the systems and differed in the range of one order of magnitude from the molecular weights of the higher degree of substitution benzyl celluloses. 13C-NMR data indicated differences in the substitution pattern between the two systems.